


seems like old times

by SadieFlood



Category: Street Fighter
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 20:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12043596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadieFlood/pseuds/SadieFlood
Summary: Chun-Li's trying to change her life.  Cammy has other ideas.





	seems like old times

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedevilchicken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/gifts).



Chun-Li has never been much for vanity, never really had the luxury, but she finds herself lingering in front of the mirror more often now. Each passing day seems to bring a new, unpleasant surprise, in the form of a new, almost but not quite imperceptible line etched across her forehead, a clump of white hairs twisted through an ox horn, skin that doesn't seem as resilient as it once did. She watches herself age with a combination of dismay and gratitude; aging itself is a luxury, and one that was not afforded to her father, or so many of her friends. 

Or her enemies, for that matter.

The thought brings a smile to her lips, and her mild irritation at her latest wrinkle subsides as quickly as it began. She takes one last look, then shakes her head at the indulgence and gets on with her day.

She's lucky in so many ways, she marvels. It wasn't luck that helped her survive a single-minded quest for revenge, one that seems so foolish with the benefit of hindsight, but sometimes she can hardly believe that she was ever so reckless, or that she survived relatively unscathed. 

Retirement from Interpol wasn't her idea, but she didn't require much convincing. Li-Fen was an excellent student, soaking up everything Chun-Li had shown her over the years, and she is an excellent teacher. Chun-Li's services in that regard, though appreciated, are no longer needed. 

With no obligations or restrictions on her time, she often finds herself traveling alone on a whim, savoring her freedom and her success, though her father, her friends, and her violent past are never far from her thoughts. 

The fact that everyone she encounters along the way, from the man sitting next to her on an airplane to the woman who rings up her purchases at the duty-free shop, only sees a contented middle-aged tourist never fails to amuse her. _If they only knew who I was._

__

__

_Who I am._

She's wandering along the coast in Curacao, distracted by mild confusion about her current location (just like a middle-aged tourist), when a stranger sneaks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder; she nearly jumps out of her skin, but she hasn't lost her touch. The stranger yelps as Chun-Li grabs her wrist and almost twists it out of its socket. She's about to demand an answer when she realizes the yelp sounds familiar. Too familiar.

“Cammy?” The years have been kind to her, if not her reflexes. 

“That was a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?” She rubs her wrist, mock-glaring at Chun-Li, and for a very brief moment she almost believes Cammy might actually be injured.

She fixes her with a look. “You, of all people, should know better than that.”

“I was excited,” Cammy says defensively. “How long has it been? And to run into you here, of all places?”

“Quite a coincidence.” 

“You bet,” she grins. “Let's get a drink!”

*

“So then _he_ says--”

“Cammy.” She can't take another story about the old days. “Why are you here?”

She's about to protest, but thinks better of it. “I really was happy to see you,” she says. “But you're right, I'm not just here to catch up. Or... apologize.”

“That was a million years ago. Don't beat yourself up.” She hadn't always been so sanguine about Cammy's abrupt departure, but time, as it happens, really does heal old wounds. Some of them, at least.

“I am sorry, and we should talk about it sometime, but I'm here because of this.” She shoves a folder across the table. 

“I'm retired,” she says.

Cammy rolls her eyes. “Obviously. But you're also one of the only people on this planet I can trust.”

She glances at the contents of the folder. It's a suicide mission. For anyone but Cammy, anyway.

“I need backup, and we worked well together, once. Will you help me?”

“Cammy,” she says. “Look around you. I've done my time. This is my life now.”

“Wandering around with nothing to do? Come on, this isn't you.”

“How would you know? We haven't spoken in 15, 20 years?” 17, to be exact. 

Cammy ignores her. “Did you actually read the file? This guy is selling drugs to children! There are photos in there that would change your mind in a second. Don't let your anger at me cloud the fact that this is a noble cause.” 

"Every cause is noble to someone," she snaps, and instantly regrets it. Her tone is softer when she continues: "Of course I care. You don't think I'm furious? Someone should get that guy off the streets. But you and me, taking down a drug kingpin? Setting aside our history, just look at us. I'm 51 years old, Cammy."

"I train every single day," she says, indignant. 

"Well, I don't."

"You're a retired Interpol officer. Hand to hand combat was never your only skill. That's not the reason I tracked you down."

"I'm sorry," she says. "Good luck."

“I know you're in there somewhere. I know the _real_ you wants to help me take this guy down. Even if you're still mad at me.” Cammy slides a business card for a hotel across the table. “If you happen to run into my old friend Chun-Li, tell her I'll be in room 21 until sunrise.”

She gets up to leave. 

“She won't believe me if I tell her,” Chun-Li says impulsively. “She probably remembers the last time she expected you to be there in the morning.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“You said you weren't here to apologize. Saying the word 'apologize' doesn't count as an apology,” she says. So much for old wounds being healed, she supposes. Maybe time is just a Band-Aid.

“I didn't come here to argue,” Cammy says.

“I know, you came here to guilt-trip me into a mission I probably wouldn't have survived when I was 20 years younger,” she says. “So many years without a word, but you manage to track me down here, of all places. If you found out I was here, then you must know that I don't fight anymore. I'm done with all of it.”

Cammy sits back down. After a long moment, she says, “I was young and foolish. Don't tell me you've never made a mistake.”

“A few.”

“I would do it all differently if I had the chance. I know I won't have the chance. Please reconsider,” she says.

And then she's gone.

Just like old times.

*

She stands outside the door of room 21 for a good fifteen minutes before knocking. Cammy's smile is so bright, she looks twenty years younger. "You changed your mind." 

Chun-Li hesitates. "That's not why I came."

Her face falls, hardens in an instant. "What is it, then?" 

"I had to know. Why'd you do it?

"Do what?" She sounds tired, as if this is a conversation they've been having every day for twenty years instead of the first time they've spoken since she left without saying goodbye, and Chun-Li woke up alone.

"Please don't be coy."

"I couldn't stay. I was getting too..." She pauses, searching for the word. "Weak."

"Okay," she says. "Thank you."

She's halfway down the hallway when Cammy says, "You know what I mean." She does. Romantic attachments had been a liability in their line of work. A risk worth taking, in Chun-Li's opinion, but she found out the hard way that Cammy hadn't shared that particular conviction. "I loved you, and I really am sorry I left. I should have told you--well, I should have told you a lot of things."

She can see another version of herself, the middle-aged tourist, walking out of Cammy's hotel and back to her own, settling in for the night, ordering room service in the morning, picking up some local trinkets before heading to her next destination.

Instead, she returns to Cammy's door. "I get it," she says. "Leaving is easy. Staying is hard." She swallows hard. “I do a lot of leaving these days.”

"You have to know I'd do it all differently now. But is that really the reason you won't help me with this?"

"I'm trying to build a life for myself that doesn't revolve around fighting all the time. I'm tired, Cammy."

"You mean scared," she says. "You're scared of getting hurt."

Chun-Li dodges the implication as easily as a blow to the face; her reflexes aren't totally shot. "I'm not as young as I used to be. My bones can't take it."

"You can be the brains of the operation this time," Cammy says. "I'll be the brawn. Well, and the beauty."

She laughs, really laughs, for the first time in a while. "That goes without saying."

"So you're in?" 

"Against my better judgment," she sighs. “As usual, with you."

*

The mission is a success. In her later years at Interpol, Chun-Li was considered a master strategist. 

Watching as the kingpin is led away by officers younger and a little more spry than herself, she has to admit she misses the work, the sense of accomplishment that accompanies an operation like this one.

But if she doesn't stop now, will she ever? And if she does, will it be too late to live the life she wants, free from violence and strife?

"You can't just put on blinders," Cammy says over lunch, their last meal before Chun-Li heads back to the school; some time with Li-Fen and the children, she thinks, will help her recalibrate.

"I've done more for--"

"No one could argue with that," she says. "I'm certainly not. I'm just saying, some people could bury their heads in the sand and allow injustice to occur while they go off and lead normal lives. But I'm not one of them, and you're not, either."

"So you're saying there's another mission."

“So you're saying you would be interested?” 

Li-Fen and the children can wait, she supposes. One more time. 

The _last_ time.

Oh, who is she kidding?

Cammy grins, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "I'll be the brains this time."

"So I have to be the brawn?"

She rolls her eyes. "The beauty. Goes without saying."

Chun-Li groans.

"I missed this," Cammy says. "So much."

She resists the urge to pull her hand away. Instead she says, "You do realize that things can never be exactly the same.” She pauses. “I probably won't be able to trust you again, not like I used to.”

Cammy leans back in her chair. "Don't worry, you will. Someday." 

"Someday," Chun-Li echoes. She doesn't completely believe it, but she wishes she did. 

Maybe that's enough for now.

"Places to go, people to bust," Cammy says, getting up to leave. She extends a hand to Chun-Li. "You with me?"

And against her better judgment, she is.

Just like old times.


End file.
